The Great Sand Fracas of Ames County (11 page)

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P
eople from as far away as Milwaukee and Green Bay came to Link Lake to witness the famous bank robbery reenactment that was sponsored by the Link Lake Historical Society. It was held the first Saturday in May each year at Increase Joseph Community Park. People from the community played the parts of those most directly involved in the incident, which without a doubt was the most exciting thing that ever happened in the Village of Link Lake since it was settled in 1852.

Emily Higgins played the role of Abigail Johnson, proprietor of Johnson House, a stagecoach stop, tavern, and roadhouse that was now the Link Lake Supper Club. Oscar Anderson was One-Eyed Billy, a robber wanted in three states, and Fred Russo played his sidekick, Norman. Billy Baxter,
Argus
editor, played Marshal Jonas Gust.

On the hillside overlooking the clearing, a hundred people or so sat on blankets and enjoyed their picnic dinners as they waited for the early evening event to begin. It was a clear, warm May day.

A podium was set up under the giant Trail Marker Oak. A faded façade of the Link Lake State Bank was lashed to a tree to its right and a façade of Johnson House was tied to a tree to its left. Longtime announcer of the event Earl Wade of radio station WWRI, a balding middle-aged man who wore thick glasses, walked to the podium. Wade had a deep, easy-to-listen-to voice, and according to most people who listened to him on the radio, he looked not at all like he sounded.

“Welcome everyone,” Wade began. “You are in for a thrill and at the same time you will learn just a bit more about this wonderful Link Lake community and its history.”

In front of the Johnson House façade, four men sat at a table reading newspapers.

“You see this?” one of the men said.

“See what?” the second man asked.

“This story about an increase in bank robberies in Wisconsin.”

“Bank robberies, huh? Never happen here in Link Lake. Not enough money in our bank for a robber to take notice.”

The group laughed as the crowd's attention turned to a man on horseback who rode into the scene. The man wore a pearl-handled pistol on his belt and had a badge pinned to his shirt. He stopped his horse at the improvised hitching rail, climbed off, and tied his horse. He walked over to the four men sitting at the table, who looked up when he approached.

“Howdy, Marshal, what can we do for you?” one of the men asked.

“Well, it's this way,” said Marshal Gust. “I don't want to alarm anybody, but I just got a telegram from Oshkosh that a bank has been robbed there and the robbers were last seen headed west.”

“Well, this would be west,” said one of the men at the table.

“Ain't enough money in the Link Lake State Bank for any robber worth his salt to care about. Don't think we have much to worry about. But thanks for the warning, Marshal.”

The marshal climbed back on his horse and rode off toward the village. The table and the four men disappeared behind the Johnson House façade, while a woman with a broom appeared in front of the roadhouse. She proceeded to sweep off the imaginary front steps and looked up to see two riders approaching, both rather poorly dressed and wearing pistols on their belts.

“Howdy, ma'am,” said the taller man. “Name's Billy, my partner here goes by Norman. We're looking for a room and a meal. We at the right place?”

“You bet you are,” said Abigail Johnson. “We got clean rooms and some of the best beefsteak you'll find anywhere in this part of Wisconsin.”

“Your steak from one of those skinny dairy cows we saw when we was ridin' this way?” said the older man, who smiled broadly when he said it.

“Nah, we don't feed none of that skinny dairy cow steak—that all goes to them packing plants in Milwaukee. Here we serve the best beefsteak you can buy anywhere. I'll bet my reputation on it.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear it,” said the tall man. “We're lookin' for work— heard there might be some call for a lumberjack or two in these parts.”

Abigail laughed. “You boys are just about fifty years too late—the only lumberjacks left are those way up north, up there in the Hayward area— and maybe over toward Rhinelander. Might still find a few lumber camps there. But around here, well most of the folks are farmers and they've taken up milking cows. You boys know how to milk a cow?”

The taller man laughed. “Well, we might look like cowboys, but milkin' cows is one thing we don't do. Wouldn't be caught dead milkin' one of them smelly cows.”

“Well, bring your things in and we'll get you checked into a room. Dining room's still open—we'll see if we can rustle you up something to eat.”

“Mighty grateful, ma'am,” said the taller cowboy.

E
arl Wade picked up the microphone.

“And now, as the sun sets over Link Lake and the first lamps are lit and people sit on their front porches, enjoying the cool breeze that rolls off the lake, people think how wonderful it is to live in such a quiet place where life is simple and the people are content and well satisfied. By 10:00 p.m. the lamps are blown out and the town is dark and it's quiet, except for the call of a whip-poor-will that repeats its name over and over again, the sound echoing across the lake.”

K
ABOOM! An explosion caused everyone in the audience to jump and look in the direction of the Link Lake State Bank façade. Smoke from the explosion drifted over the crowd, adding realism to the scene. Through the smoke, the audience saw two men, each carrying a bag, running toward their horses. They quickly climbed on their mounts, galloped past the podium, and disappeared on a trail that led farther into the woods of Increase Joseph Community Park.

Earl Wade said, “The lamps of Link Lake are once more lit as people are awakened by the explosion. The first lamp lit is that of Marshal Gust, who quickly dresses, runs to the livery that is a block from his house, saddles his horse, and heads down Main Street in search of the source of the explosion.”

As Wade talked, Marshal Gust, astride his horse, trotted in front of the podium on his way to the Link Lake State Bank façade, which had a lingering stream of smoke coming from it. The marshal tied his horse to the hitching rail and quickly noticed that the bank door was open. He hurried inside and a few moments later was back on the street.

“The bank's been robbed! The bank's been robbed!” the marshal yelled in a loud voice to the handful of sleepy-eyed people now gathering on Main Street.

“I need a posse to help find these desperadoes. Any volunteers?”

Several hands went up.

“Go home, find your guns, saddle your horses, and meet me right here in a half hour.”

E
arl Wade continued, “The good people of Link Lake are visibly shaken, as they rush from their homes to find out what has happened, and what possible danger they might be in. The fifteen men comprising the posse, each armed with a rifle or a shotgun and a few with pistols, join Marshal Gust, who believes he has located the bank robbers in the woods a short distance from Link Lake.”

The crowd's attention turned to the men crouching on the ground, their firearms raised and pointing toward the woodlot to their right.

BANG, BANG, BANG. Three pistol shots came from the woodlot, followed by rifle shots from the posse members, each firing several times. The sound of the gunshots was deafening.

“Hold your fire!” shouted Marshal Gust. “Hold your fire!”

Once more it was quiet, as the smoke from the gunfire drifted across the audience. Through the smoke emerged two men, their arms high in the air. Marshal Gust, his pistol pointed at the two robbers, marched them up to the podium.

The threesome stopped in front of the podium as Earl Wade walked up to the marshal and his captives.

“Congratulations to you, Marshal Gust. Can you tell us how you managed to capture these dangerous criminals?”

“Well, I tell you it was this way. We managed to track these crooks from the bank to the woods over there, where we captured these guys, but not without a fight. I organized the posse with some of them on the south side of the woods, some on the west side, some on the north side, and some on the east side. When they tried to leave the woods and they spotted the posse, they commenced shooting. But we outgunned them. No question about that.”

“Do either of you men have anything to say?” asked Earl Wade as he looked to the men with their hands still raised in the air.

“Well, I'm One-Eyed Billy and this here is my sidekick, Norman. And we're pretty darned disappointed that we got caught by this small-town marshal and his gun-slinging posse. What did us in was the sand. This dang country is so sandy that all the marshal had to do was follow our tracks to that there woods. And that's what they did.”

W
ell, that's it, folks,” said Earl Wade, turning back to the audience. “That's the story of the famous Link Lake bank robbery. Let's give a big round of applause to our actors.”

Emily Higgins, Billy Baxter, Fred Russo, and Oscar Anderson all joined hands and bowed. The extras then took their turn bowing to the audience.

A
s the sun set in the west, casting long shadows across the waters of Link Lake, the audience began picking up their blankets and moving toward their cars. In the distance a whip-poor-will called, the sound echoing across the lake.

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On a vote of five to one, the Link Lake Village Board voted to approve leasing a portion of the village's Increase Joseph Community Park for the construction of a sand mine. The Alstage Sand Mining Company of La Crosse has signed a twenty-year contract with the village, with a percentage of the profits from the sale of the sand going directly to the village's coffers.

Marilyn Jones, president of the Link Lake Economic Development Council, said, “Mayor Jessup and I, along with all the members of the Link Lake Development Council, are extremely pleased with the decision. Alstage will bring much-needed jobs to our community and with a percentage of the profits from the mine going to the village, many of its budget problems will be solved as well. Alstage is an environmentally respected company with a strong reputation for responsible mining.”

The Link Lake Historical Society strongly opposed the decision. Emily Higgins, president of the society, said, “I can't believe the mining company plans to dig up our famous park and cut down the historically famous Trail Marker Oak, which the company says stands in the way of the only practical road to the planned mine. Neither the village board of Link Lake nor the Alstage Sand Mining Company has any respect for history. The historical society will do everything in its power to save this famous tree and the sacred sand on which it stands.”

Emerson Evans, a spokesperson for the Alstage Mining Company, indicated the company was extremely pleased with the village board's decision. “We look forward to working with the good citizens of Link Lake, and we are pleased that we will be able to offer several employment opportunities to this community,” said Evans.

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